24 DOWN...1 TO GO

Well, I did it! My 24th consecutive Grandma's Marathon is in the books. The lack of suitable training due to the knee had me worried. I left Bloomington at about 7 PM Friday as planned. Once again, I arrived at Duluth just before dark, picked up my packet, and went to bed in the car. I woke without an alarm as the buses arrived at the DEC for the 1/2 marathon. It was an unusually clear day, considering it was supposed to rain. The bus ride was uneventful. I arrived at the start and prepared for the race. After 24 annual visits, it is routine.

The race start was simple. It took over 5 minutes to get across the start line. I was doing just over a 10-minute mile without much worry. My heart rate was about 130. There was not much to worry about. I was surprised when someone called my name, and there was Karen, looking like she was out for a walk. It was nice to see someone I knew; as you would think, in the 23rd year, I should know someone.

Everything was going along fine when, at the halfway mark, I started to feel a pain in the inside side of my right knee. I walked for a while and tried to minimize the pain. Then started to run... The pain... moved to the outside... Just like when I hurt it badly, the pain moved. I was upset and worried. Can I finish? I have to finish.

So I just went with the pain and did what I could. I finished just over 5:30 and was happy; that was only 15 minutes off my time last year. Of course, this is over 80 minutes slower than in 2006. Oh, well.

The knee hurt today. When I woke, it was painful to bend, although as the day wore on, I had more general muscle pain than knee pain. I will take a few days rest and run. If the knee is low pain only, Afton is next.

As a side note, my Garmin 405 hit 18 of the 26 miles at 1.0 miles and the others at 1.01. Was the elevation just over 4,000 up and down? I need help finding information to verify the actual elevation change for this race. If anyone knows for sure, let me know. The 405 is much more accurate as to elevation than my 305. I would wear both if I remembered the 305 at home. 

Oh well, there will be many more opportunities to compare them!

Carry on...